➤ BIDEN & HARRIS, from p.18
any other developed nation. The
Democrats must prosecute the
Trump team’s failure on that front
aggressively, but they must also
show that they can manage a virus
that has eluded even best public
health practices. There are no easy
answers, and as New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo once observed
this is the sort of crisis that is hard
for any public offi cial to surmount
without facing criticism from some
major portion of the population.
Donald Trump’s obscene politicizing
of this health emergency only
makes that job harder.
The other urgent concern involves
the criminal justice and
racial equity questions brought to
the fore by the George Floyd killing
in May, which are stark challenges
to the status quo, including the
Democratic establishment that for
➤ DONNA ROBINSON, from p.18
SUSIE DAY: What kind of time
is she serving at Bedford?
ROBINSON:Fifteen to life. But
now, with COVID, that “life” could
mean a death sentence. That’s
what frightens me.
In 2000, my cousin was shot to
death in a parking lot and my body
went downhill from that. I was
still trying to work two, sometimes
three, jobs. One day, I went to wor7k
and couldn’t see out of my right eye.
My daughter took care of me. She
was always my best friend. We did
standup comedy together, open-mic
night in Buffalo. Now, even behind
bars, she got a sense of humor. She
keeps everybody cracking up.
DAY: Before the shutdown, how
did you get downstate to visit Missy?
ROBINSON:Bedford Hills is a
long way from Buffalo. I don’t fl y;
I depend on public transportation
because nobody in my family has a
good enough car. So I got creative.
I’d look online and see if I could
fi nd a Megabus ticket for fi ve or ten
bucks. Sometimes I’d hitchhike. I’d
sleep overnight at Penn Station.
Then somebody at RAPP reached
out. Because I’d told them I was
sleeping on the subway, riding the
train all night like a homeless person,
ducking and bobbing the police.
They gave me the keys to their
too long championed or co-signed
harsh policing and incarceration
policies. Both Biden and Harris
bear the burden of that history,
and if they wish to energize communities
of color and young voters
they must demonstrate their understanding
of the legacy of racial
injustice and the need for fundamental
change. As the recent battle
over the police budget in New York
City demonstrated, these issues
demand tough calls that will inevitably
divide even people of good will
with roughly congruent long term
visions. Biden and Harris need to
be ready to challenge Trump and
the nation with specifi c policy proposals
to create real change.
Since the Democratic Party primary
represented a rejection of
the Sanders Medicare For All approach,
it is incumbent on the
Democrats to lay out in detail how
Biden’s more incremental approach
— building on Obamacare, with its
many shortcomings — can get the
nation on the road to true universal,
affordable healthcare. A gauzy
commitment will not be enough,
especially for voters still burdened
a decade into Obamacare with
unmanageable health costs and
choices.
The economic crisis brought on
by COVID merely underscores the
bleak jobs picture that too many
Americans face. The Democrats
have to be the Jobs and Education
Party, with plans that can
give Americans in all types of communities
and from divergent skill
levels true opportunity to live a decent
life.
For the LGBTQ community, we
know that the Democrats today
regularly punch the ticket on our
agenda. We need to be assured
that among the many enormous
challenges facing the nation, our
Donna Robinson visiting her daughter Missy at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in September of last
year.
apartment in Harlem; said, “You’re
welcome to stay here as long as
you want.” I got to see Missy every
month until the pandemic.
DAY:What was a typical visit
like?
ROBINSON:I make my way up
from Harlem, get a cab from the
train to the prison. You have to
check in, get a locker. Most of the
time in the restroom there’s no
soap, sometimes no toilet tissue,
no paper towels. Or none of the
above.
COURTESY OF DONNA ROBINSON
But I’m the consummate traveler,
that little old lady with Dunkin
Donut napkins in her purse, so I’m
always there to help other people.
When I go into the visiting room, I
have to wait. But I can’t sit still in
my seat; I want to be right there
when she walks in, to hugher.
My daughter’s got a mole behind
her ear. I always feel for that when
I hug her, so I know it’s not a clone.
Laughs. Because one day, they
sit somebody down, and you know
my vision’s bad. I said, “Oh no. I
was just down here last month —
needs remain priorities and get
prompt action. The Equality Act, of
course, is the absolute fl oor on our
goals. Housing and healthcare for
our youth must be a mission for a
Biden-Harris administration. And
action at the federal level, through
leveraging the Matthew Shepard
and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes
Act, is needed to stem the horrifying
epidemic of murders targeting
transgender Americans, especially
women of color. The transgender
rights movement is a jobs project,
offering our trans brothers and
sisters and our non-binary family
the opportunities that many
others among us in the LGBTQ
community have come to take for
granted.
As we all work to achieve victory
on November 3, these are the
cardinal issues that we and the
candidates need to keep front and
center.
I knowmy baby didn’t gain forty
pounds.” I got closer to the woman
– they sent down the wrong one.
When she comes in we get to
hug. Hug all the time. We hold
hands and pray before we eat. We
play Uno for eight hours straight.
That’s the only card game I know.
Even the offi cers say about Missy,
“She’s a good person.” They don’t
know why she’s there. Missy says,
“It’s because God put me here,
Mommy, to change somebody or do
some good. This is a journey that
God has us on.”
That’s how I got to look at it because
if I don’t, I’m going to lose my
mind. My daughter had never been
in any trouble in her life.
DAY: What was she convicted
of?
ROBINSON:Arson and two
counts of murder. She had a relationship
with this man who owned
a rooming house. He sold drugs in
the neighborhood. He was verbally
abusive, physically abusive. She
kept breaking up with him and he
kept coming back. In October 2015,
she set his house on fi re. Two of the
men who lived there died of smoke
inhalation.
DAY: Is Missy okay with you
talking about this?
ROBINSON: Oh yes. I wouldn’t
➤ DONNA ROBINSON, continued on p.27
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